Life is tough but CHERUBS are tougher!
by Shadowphoenixflame
Summary: At the age of 10 Harry Potter was placed in the care of the local government - after running away from the children's homes he caught the eye of CHERUB, A secret organisation that utilities children as spies. Deciding to change his life against manipulations he changed his name to James Pheobus Harrison - AkA Jace. Slash - Jace (Harry) / Kyle Please review!
1. Chapter 1

THIS IS A FANFICTION USING BOTH HARRY POTTER AND CHERUB – THERE MAY BE EXTRACTS USED DURING THIS FANFICTION AND IDEAS AND SITUATIONS FROM THOSE SERIES USED WITHIN ALSO…IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SUCH, THEN YOU PROBABLY AREN'T ON THE RIGHT SIGHT – AS EVERY SINGLE STORY ON THIS SIGHT IS SOMEHOW LINKED TO AN ORIGANAL TEXT.

THIS STORY WILL BE _SLASH_ (BOYXBOY) – DON'T BOTHER ARGUING WITH ME, I DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE FOR YOU.

JUST AS A WARNING – I AM _DYSLEXIC_ (A general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.) THUS THERE MAY BE MISTAKES BUT I WILL TRY MY BEST TO SORT THESE OUT IN MY OWN TIME, IF THERE IS SOMETHING POLITELY POINT IT OUT BUT PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE…I AM A UNIVERSITY STUDENT (LITERATURE AND EDUCATION STUDIES) SO I AM BUSY, SO UPDATES CAN'T BE ASSURED ON DATES THAT I SET.

THANKS_._

Chapter one:

This room was flashier than the one at the last care House he had been at. It was a single for starters. TV, kettle, telephone and miniature fridge. It was like the hotel when his aunt and uncle took him and Dudley to Disney World. He didn't have a clue where he was or how he'd got here. The last thing he remembered was Jennifer Mitchum asking him up to her office after he got back to the House.

Harry burrowed around under the duvet and realised he was naked. That was freaky. He sat up and looked out of the window. The room was up high overlooking an athletics track. There were kids in running spikes doing stretches. Some others were getting tennis coaching on clay courts off to the side. This was clearly a children's home, and miles nicer than the House.

Harry was a ten year old boy who had been put in the care system a few weeks earlier – since then he had ran away a total of four times from different care homes, all having passed him on when he ran.

Shuddering he climbed out of bed and rubbed the back of his neck as he checked over the room once again - There was a set of clean clothes on the floor: white socks and boxers, pressed orange T-shirt, green military-style trousers with zipped pockets and a pair of boots. Harry picked the boots up and inspected them: rubbery smell and shiny black soles. They were new.

The military-style kit made Harry wonder if this was where kids ended up if they kept getting in trouble. He put on the underwear and studied the logo embroidered on the T-shirt. It was a winged baby sitting on a ball. On looking closer the ball was a globe and you could see the outlines of Europe and the Americas. Underneath was a set of initials:_CHERUB_. Harry spun the initials in his head, but they didn't make any sense.

Out in the corridor the kids had the same boots and trousers as James, but their T-shirts were either black or grey, all with the CHERUB logo on them.

James spoke to a boy coming towards him.

"Can't talk to orange."

Rolling his eyes at the boy Harry look the fire exit which lead straight outside, for a ten year old he was smart – he had only been caught after running away because they had put out a high-risk run-away the moment he got into care from previous attempts with his aunt and uncle.

He had seen just from the window that it would probably hard to escape this place and he'd probably be in _major_ trouble for this one too – his last attempt had been three days ago.

Then again, logically, they couldn't blame him…What ten year old kid waking up in a strange room naked was going to stay put? Or trust anyone in the building for that matter! He'd been with his councillor last he remembered in Lancaster.

He received some odd looks as he walked among the other kids, aged from about six to sixteen, but none of them tried to stop him and he was the only one that was wearing an orange t-shirt.

Harry froze up for the tiniest millisecond as he heard a voice shouting his name behind him before taking off as fast as he possibly could – now the others had been alerted to something being wrong they tried to grab him, he'd put up with Dudley (and friends) 'harry hunting' and had plenty of practice avoiding capture in these situations.

It wasn't until he reached the outer fence that he came to a serious problem – it was at _least_ three times bigger than him, Harry being small for his age, and looked exceptionally difficult to climb with no foot-holds like the fences in his old school in Surrey did.

Non-the-less he was determined.

He had managed to climb half way up when a strong hand grabbed the bottom of his ankles – he tried to shake them off but a firm tug and he toppled off the fence…luckily the older boy who had pulled him had a decency to catch him as well.

Twenty minutes after being caught Harry found himself in an office sat at a desk opposite Dr Terence "**_Mac_**" McAfferty – who had met them at the office door with a very amused smile.

"I do believe that's as far as anything has ever got," Dr McAfferty mused leaning onto the desk trying to keep a straight face but his lips were twitching, Harry sulked in his chair. "Including those who've been through our training system – so Mr Potter, running away a hobby of yours?"

"I might as well – I'll be kicked out anyway," Harry mumbled pulling his legs to his chest, he looked like a seven year old not the ten he was – damn his aunt and uncle for the malnourishment and abuse!

"Why?" Dr McAfferty asked patiently,

"No one ever wants me." Harry claimed shrugging,

"Why?"

"I'm a freak! A no good, nasty, worthless freak!" Harry stressed looking up to glare at the man – shouldn't he already know these things? All the other care homes did! "And I'm not going back to José House. EVER."

"We only invite special children here Harry," Dr McAfferty stated leaning back, a glint of something Harry didn't recognise in his eyes. "You're very special Harry. Do you know why?"

"No."

"You're smart, talented, and healthy and I hear you're very good at chemistry." The doctor smiled once again – Harry merely shrugged not believing a word he was saying. "You're also really good with languages and maths…Incidentally so is our other new recruit who accepted a place last week. What languages do you know Harry?"

"English, Latin and Welsh." He answered and then thought about the questioning look he was receiving and smiled shyly. "I was born in Wales, it was where my parents lived at the time so I wanted to learn – My old babysitter taught me Latin and said it would be very important. What is this place sir?"

"A school," Dr McAfferty answered instantly snapping back into what Harry defined as _business mode_. "CHERUB is a secret organisation made up of agents aged ten to sixteen."

"…Because no one would suspect us?" Harry asked innocently,

"Exactly! Child spies." The chairman nodded wisely – chuckling slightly as he did so, "You and James have a lot in common young man…CHERUB would be happy to offer you a place here if you pass the entrance exams."

"If I do the exams, can I think about it after?" Harry asked softly,

"Of course."

The first test had been in a dojo with Harry's fighting skills against a boy his age named Bruce, a black belt, who had rolled his eyes when the tiny boy had walked in with Dr McAfferty – or Mac as he insisted.

The first round Harry ended up flat on his back within seconds, ending in an arm-lock that was particularly painful to the ten year old. The second match Harry knew that he'd surprised both Brace and Mac – Bruce had him pinned to the ground with his arms behind his back and back at the bottom of his back, one hand pinning both arms while the other pushed between his shoulder blades.

"Right or Left handed?" Bruce whispered in his ear cruelly,

"Like I'm gonna tell you!" Harry shot back before taking a deep breath and pushing his shoulders a bit further into the mat – with Bruce's help, and pushed with his legs. Rolling over Harry grabbed one of Bruce's arms and twisted causing the boy to cry out, "Give up?"

"Yes!"

Of course after that Bruce wasn't so…kind – and, well, Brace kicked his ass across the mat and back. It was lucky that he didn't touch his hands or arms because the second test consisted of a written paper and oral test, maths, literature and IQ.

The third test was challenging with the obstacle course but Mac made sure he had two older agents with him – they were called Arif and Paul, pushing him on whenever he stumbled.

He didn't even pause when they told him to jump at the end of the course and laughed gleefully as he landed and Paul steadied him as he climbed off the spongy mat he'd landed on.

Mac told him to kill the chicken but Harry point-blank refused with a raised eyebrow – when he was asked why he wouldn't do it he simply replied because he didn't want to, Mac tried to argue with him on the point but eventually giving up.

"Your final test," Mac stated as they stood outside a cabin which was clearly pitch black inside – Harry backed away slightly shaking his head with knowing eyes. "There is a person within the room, I want you to retrieve him and untie him. No light allowed."

"No."

"No? You sure?" Mac asked writing something down on the board he'd been carrying around all day with him, "Think about this carefully Harry – it could be the difference between passing or failing,"

"I refuse to do something I'm not comfortable with," Harry stated crossing his arms definitely. "In real life if he was tied up in here there could also be someone else in there ready to hurt me – I'm petrified of the dark and by putting me in there, you'd be putting the person in more danger because I would freak out."

"Very well," Mac nodded with an amused twitch of his lips, "Paul! Take Harry for some lunch please."

"You're a very good choice for recruitment," Mac commented looking over his notes and leaning forward in the comfortable chairs by the fire which Harry hadn't noticed before now. "Now your first test – where did you learn to fight?"

"My cousin and his friends always tried to hurt me,"

"Hmm, not scared of heights?"

"No way…have been up too many trees." Harry grinned,

Mac reckoned that his test that he had written had got near top marks but he needed help with essay type's questions ("we'll help with that.") and on the IQ test he'd received a score of 173…One of the highest on his campus at the moment according to him,

"I…want to stay." Harry said chewing his bottom lip nervously and twisting his hands together, "Please. I know I asked for time after the tests but I really want to do this."

"No running away?" Mac enquired softly,

"No, I only did that because I didn't want to be there." Harry explained shaking his head quickly as though to clear it. "If I want to leave I can – can't I? I'll just tell someone."

"Then welcome to CHERUB young one," Mac said offering his hand which Harry shook happily. "Now legalities…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two:

One the second day on the CHERUB campus Jace Harrison (aka Harry Potter) woke and wished he never had to move from this very comfortable, large bed.

Peaking at the alarm clock he saw that it was only 6.12am. He was used to waking up at his aunt and uncles to make breakfast and start on his chores for the day, He never would have believed that he would get out of there and he would have never thought that he would be here – serving his country.

Besides the alarm clock there was a piece of paper that hadn't been there when he had finally fallen asleep just after midnight – so he tiredly reached over for it and looked at the hand-written note carefully.

_Jace Harrison,_

_Report to doctor's office promptly at 8.30am for immunisations and then proceed to lessons stated on time-table attached as per the discussions with myself yesterday._

_Mac._

Pulling a face he rolled out of bed and made it back up perfectly before going into his own personal bathroom for a shower and to do his business…once done in there he looked in the wardrobe which was filled with campus regulation clothing in his size.

Despite being ten years old the cloths that he needed that fit him would fit a seven year old child, so while the campus held the trousers, boots and underwear for that size, they didn't have it in that size for the training shirts – a baby blue. Mac promised to get that sorted for his grey-shirt when (and if) he passed basic but for now a too-large shirt would have to do.

Ironically the shirt still fit him better than the cloths that he had come here in.

The injections were too bad – the last time he had injections (primary school boosters) the doctor had been Vernon's friend and had deliberately hurt him and the needle had snapped off in his arm, meaning they had to cut the skin open and retrieve it…all done without any general aesthetic or pain relief.

Since he would be starting Basic Training in less than two weeks it had been decided that he wouldn't be enrolled in normal classes until afterwards – he would start karate and judo, track and some other fitness training with the athletic coaches.

Unlike a lot of the agents that came in to CHERUB – he didn't need to lose weight and he was in pretty good condition, except the malnutrition and stunted growth as a result. The doc had ordered him to put _on_ weight – even going as far as to order the Basic Training team not to withhold any meals as they usually would have.

He didn't need to go without food – he'd done it for nine years of his life and proved time and time again that he could go as long as four days without eating or drinking anything and not be hospitalised.

"You get laps too?" a blonde boy panted as Jace joined him on the track, he had seen the other boy start not ten minutes ago and he was already exhausted by the look of it.

"No, fitness training." Jace grinned keeping up with the older boy easily – he could go faster but running alone wasn't exactly fun and he knew to take it easy or he wouldn't make it. "I'm James Harrison – you?"

"James Adams," The other boy answered then they blinked at each other before laughing at the coincidence, "Do you have a preference of your name? it might be confusing!"

"Jace," he replied as they passed the start line once again,

Despite the two year age gap between them Jace and James they clicked almost immediately – they had had almost opposite childhoods but that just bonded them together even tighter.

James had been set punishment laps for sneaking off campus to see his sister and going on a mission to wreck a house without permission or knowledge of what he had been doing – he had been arrested with the others and Mac had to bail them out.

James had also been set swimming lessons before he could go and do his Basic Training, when he had told that to Jace the younger boy had nodded sympathetically – secretly glad that Mac had let his fear of the dark go for now, he had been assured that they would sort that out during the training part of his recruitment.

With the older boy by his side Jace got to meet Kyle and Bruce, well he'd met Bruce before but only when fighting. When they ate dinner together Bruce was grinning like a mad-man and declared that Jace was to be his prodigy when he got him in the dojo after training.

Jace didn't know whether to be scared or proud.

Apparently Bruce was one of the best on campus at Karate and Judo, besides Dave Moss – an agent who had his black-shirt and was one of the highest ranked in the secret organisation.

The guys at the table managed to scare the hell out of both Jace and James with stories of their own experience of Basic Training. Until Jace pointed out that they weren't _allowed_ to starve him or deprive him of even one meal, then they all began cussing and shouting about life not being fair.

* * *

Sorry about the length but that was all I could think of for this chapter - it was more of a filler and a way to introduce Jace and James to each other.

Thanks!

SPF


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three:

When it came to the day that Basic training was to begin, Jace couldn't be gladder that he woke up early every morning! The alarm clock that he had set for 5am was missing and in its place was a bunch of bags.

According to his watch (Dudley's old one) it was 6.40am, they had to be on the compound by 7.30am at latest. Jace wondered as he got up and showered if James was awake yet or they had played the same dirty trick on his new friend too – after getting ready, in his own cloths and underwear and only using the t-shirt which had the number 8 on it.

After a breakfast of strawberry pop-tarts – not healthy really but nice and he wouldn't be able to eat them for the next 100 days – he headed to the room directly opposite his own and banged on the door loudly until James appeared, sleepy eyed and dressed in his underpants.

"Wha' time is it?" James slurred allowing Jace inside,

"7.05am," Jace informed while he threw James's cloths at him and ordering him to get ready with a stern frown…before throwing two pop-tarts in his friends toaster and waiting impatiently, "Come on! We've got 25 minutes to get there, and it's a ten minute walk!"

"What are you doing?" James asked hoping on one foot as he put his boot on his left foot and brushed his teeth with his other hand, swapping for his right footed boot. "Ooh, breakfast! Kyle mentioned that no one ever eats before Basic Training -."

"And everyone I spoke to said that they also were forced to miss lunch," Jace shot right back handing the pop-tarts wrapped in a piece of tissue to James as he pushed him out the door, "Anyway – I'm not allowed to miss any meals _remember_,"

"Ooh," James muttered,

They decided it was probably best to run to the enclosure they would spend the next few months because they didn't want to risk being late – they had 20 minutes and it took 10 minutes to walk, but neither of them fancied taking the chance of being the last there.

The instructor in charge of Basic Training – Mr Large – was waiting outside the stone building when they arrived and seemed to grumble angrily as he pointed them inside,

There were ten beds split into five on each side of the room facing each other – all of them had painted numbers on the base of the bed in chipped white paint. Beds seven and eight were directly next to each other, naturally, and the boys stood in front of their respective places when they entered.

Twins Connor and Callum came in next – 3 and 4 – followed closely by Mo (2) Shakeel (1) Kerry (9), Evan (10) and Gabrielle (6) entered together. The only bed empty was bed number "5" and by the time she arrived an hour late and bedraggled Mr Large had the rest of them crouching on the balls of their feet with their hands on their heads.

Nicole was forced to stand on one foot with a metal bucket on her head, receiving a whack on the bucket if her foot touched the ground.

_****'So kiddies, you're mine for the next hundred days,' Large said. 'Every day will be equally joyous. There are no holidays. No weekends. You will rise at 0545. Cold shower, get dressed, run the assault course. 0700**__**breakfast**__**, followed by physical training until school starts at 0900.**__**Lessons**__**include Espionage, Language, Weaponry and Survival Skills. At 1400 you run the assault course again. Lunch at 1500. At 1600 two more hours of physical training. At 1800 you return here.'**_

Nicole'_** foot touched**__**the floor. Large smashed the baton into the bucket. The noise inside was incredible.**_

'_**Keep that foot up. Where was I? At 1800 you return here. Another shower, warm water if I'm feeling kind. Wash your clothes in the sinks and hang them up so they're dry for morning. Then clean and polish your boots. At 1900 you get your evening meal. 1930 to 2030**__**homework**__**. Brush your teeth, lights out at 2045. There will also be trips off campus for survival training, the last of which will take us to sunny Malaysia.**_

'_**If anyone is accusing me of cruelty, I remind you that the fences that surround us are not to keep you in, but to keep your little chums from slipping in and giving you a helping hand or a tasty snack. You are free to**__**leave**__**the training facility at any time, but if you wish to be a CHERUB agent you will have to resume basic training from day one. If you get an injury that stops you training for more than three days, you start again from day one. **_Nicole_**, put your foot down and take off the bucket.'**_

Nicole_** lifted the bucket off his head. It took his eyes a few seconds to readjust to the light.**_

'_**You were very late this morning, **_Nicole_**, weren't you,' Large said.****_

"Yes, sir." She whispered meekly,

"Well since you had a nice breakfast, I think that will be no lunch for any of you kiddies today!" Mr Large announced clapping his hands gleefully – until Mr Speaks cleared his throat and nodded at Jace. "Except for number 8 of course! Jace Harrison! Care to explain to your fellow in-mate why you get special treatment and they won't?"

"I – I, err, was starved for most of my life…" He stuttered blushing madly at their indignant looks, James, Callum and Connor already knew and frowned at him sadly. "I'm not allowed to miss any meals for medical reasons."

"Have you had breakfast, James Harrison?" Mr Large demanded,

"Yes sir."

"ALRIGHT! Everyone out onto the assault course!" Large ordered pointing at the door and snapping his fingers twice.

The assault course was harder than the one on the main campus grounds – unlike that one this wasn't clean like that one, it was covered in mud and seemed like someone had gone round and soaked the thing before they had gone on it…Mr Large most likely.

Kerry had done the course before and knew what she was doing but Jace had been through a-hell-of-a-lot and wasn't going to quit so easily – he dragged James along with him and they pushed each other whenever they needed the encouragement the most.

James in the water,

Jace in the dark tunnel,

One way or another – they were going to get through this 100 days together.

* * *

Hey guys :)

So, three chapters in one day - well, two, since the first is originally from "The Cherub Wizard", one I decided I should restart because people accused me of plagiarism (its fanfiction, what do they expect? and i have a disclaimer on my profile) and according to one review it was "The worst Cherub fiction ever".

Going off to write Chapter 4 now :P

Thank you!

SPF


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four:

Nicole dropped out on day one after being shouted at over and over again – she had come back begging for another chance ten minutes later but Mr Large had sent her off telling her to lose weight and come back for the next Basic training session.

Callum dropped out on day 38 when he had fractured his arm,

On Christmas day Mr Large tortured them by taking them onto main campus to watch the agents eating Christmas dinner. Connor would have quit right then but Callum ordered him to finished the full 100 days.

Jace actually liked the lessons they received – he liked the challenge that they set him, especially his language class! None of the trainees had been given a language to learn with an alphabet remotely like the English one. James got Russian and Jace got Greek.

The language was chosen based on your ethnicity and looks – James could pass as a Russian and everything except his pale skin screamed Greek to those who saw Jace and didn't know him well.

Jace's language teacher had absolutely no complaints about the small boy and that seemed to make Mr Large furious with him – punishing him by spraying him with icy cold water at every chance he got and Large would take his meal away whenever the other trainers weren't around to watch.

James and Connor made sure he ate though – sharing their own food with him whenever Mr Large tried to do so. That didn't help though when Mr Large decided to be a pig and take everyone's food away for some made up punishment for all the trainees.

Actually Mr Large seemed to have it in for both James and Jace together – picking on them in physical training, especially in Judo and Karate when they were learning throws.

Speaking of Karate lessons, James was much bigger than Jace but they had been evenly matched skills-wise when they had begun but as time went by Jace started pulling ahead – helping James wherever possible.

James did better on strategy tests that Jace did though.

"You might as well quit, Harrison!" Mr Large growled pushing his face in the mud as he knelt down next to Jace, who spluttered and spat the foul tasting dirt from his mouth. "You're never going to get through the final test! Quit now and you'll be allowed to eat tonight – don't want to defy the doctors _again_, do you?"

Jace shoved rolled away from the big man and used a front roll to get back to his feet – using the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe most of the mud away from his face and fighting back tears.

Mr Large reminded him a lot of his Uncle Vernon – he was large, mean and completely unreasonable. Jace had _never_ done anything wrong to the man and yet he seemed to hate him above and beyond any of the other trainees – Bruce and Kyle had warned him that Mr Large always picked on one trainee more than the others but he hadn't expected to go through the full 100 days of trainings.

Jace watched warily as Mr Large walked away to shout at Evan and James patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Mr Speaks! I think Jace has badly hurt his ankle." James called winking to Jace,

"Oh, no!" Mr Speaks groaned glancing over at Large who was still busy shouting at Evan and now Kerry too. "Urh! Come on then the pair of you – James, carry him! LARGE WE'RE GOING TO THE INFIRMARY!"

Speaks left them in the warm infirmary with a knowing look on his face as James placed Jace down on the examination table – the nurse gave them both a cup of tea each and a full packet of biscuits each.

She weighed Jace while he was there and gave him a disapproving look at the loss of weight – while they hadn't excepted him to gain anything during Basic Training, they had at least excepted him to maintain the weight he was before he began.

The nurse went off and ordered two meals – because the nurse knew how Mr Large was apparently and explained that James probably wouldn't get his meal tonight for being here with Jace. A homemade cottage pie and vegetables each along with a full pack of biscuits each later they were sent back to the compound where Mr Large was waiting for them at the gates glaring at them hatefully as they approached.

The nurse had written a note saying that he had merely twisted his ankle and it would be fine come morning, but either way it was a good thing that Jace could act, because she had told him to at least pretend to limp on his ankle just for tonight.

"Shower and bed." Large growled shoving them inside of the fence and slamming the gate shut behind him – clicking the large padlock into place firmly, the click sounded deafening. "Sadly for _you_ the rest have already eaten tonight. Tough luck boys."

Day 96 of Basic Training found Jace and the rest of the remaining trainees in a helicopter waiting for their landing points. Jace had done his research on the area and knew full well that you couldn't get malaria around here, he knew that Gabriella knew as did her partner but he very much doubted if Kerry, Evan, Shakeel or Connor knew.

Oh well, too late to tell them now!

Mr Large shoved Jace out of the helicopter before he could even think about jumping off the edge but he landed safely on the sandy grounds below – he and James were the last ones to be dropped off and he noticed immediately that there trek would harder than the others…they had to walk through soft sand!

"We don't need all this junk…" James complained looking through the bags that had been left at their drop off point, "Seriously? Why would we need even half of this?!"

"We don't – that's the point," Jace grinned tipping his bag out and looking through everything carefully – immediately noticing things they would and wouldn't need. "Only pack essentials. We don't need two sets of pans, we can cook together,"

"Complete work of Shakespeare?" James queried disgusted,

"Toilet paper," Jace smirked, "Rip it in half."

It took about ten minutes but their packs were now at least ¾ lighter than they would have been if they hadn't thought to empty things out. They had been both given a tent each but they had been left behind with holes cut out of one of them – to make rain macs for both of them.

According to their instructions – mostly by Jace's translations – they had 24 hours to reach the first check-point, 24 hours to reach the second and then 12 hours to reach their final destination.

Despite the scorching sun Jace and James jogged at the water's edge along the coast – they didn't know how far it was until their turn-off to go up-river so they couldn't waste time. The only time they stopped was at lunch time to get something to eat – rations that they had found in the packs.

Only when they saw the river ahead after seven hours of light jogging – with an hour break between, did they stop for a drink and then walked at a moderate pace estimating that they were ahead of schedule even if it was only by a small amount.

Of course they were hindered by the pouring rain that came down suddenly and Jace started muttering about dumb luck – because night was falling by that point they decided to take a break and fell asleep under the threes that followed the coast along.

After the rain had stopped the only problem that they encountered was swimming for James, he still wasn't the best of swimmers but he was stronger than he had been at the start of training. Getting to the second check-point had been nerve wrecking with James on the boat threating about it over-turning and them having to swim the rest of the way.

After the way that Mr Large had treat them all through training Jace had become suspicious that there wasn't anything _too_ difficult in their path – well it would be difficult for a normal child, or even adult, but still there wasn't anything that they hadn't been able to work their way around using logic and the skills they had learnt over the past few months.

Half way through the journey to the final point of their mission Jace cut the engine staring around suspiciously – he certainly didn't trust Mr Large not to have done something on this path to hinder them; it was way too simple a route and made absolutely no sense.

"James…check the boat for any trigger explosives," Jace ordered moving as carefully as he could as not to rock the small boat too much – James blinked in surprise before getting up and checking the edges of the boat. "Mr Large loves those things – I know what he's like, he's probably set up a trap for us. It's not exactly light and we're in water."

"Fear of dark for you and water for me." James nodded nervously,

Using the torch and penknife from his pack Jace tore the plastic cover off the engine and looked inside – surely enough there was explosive putty inside with a trigger flare attached to the side where a small hole was.

"Hmm,"

"That's a photo trigger," James stated looking at it over Jace's shoulder – he sounded scared. "I think I remember how to deactivate it…"

Jace moved out of his way and let him work.

Once the case was reattached they switched the engine back on and floored it to the finish where Mr Large growled furiously at the sight of them. Probably plotting revenge or something.

As it turned out they weren't finished with their test yet – all of the trainees were tied to a chair with blindfolds on, Jace hated it!, and ordered to put their hands in the bucket.

Gabriela was the one who pulled their plug on the 'prank' and everyone laughed as they were rewarded with their grey shirts. Mr Large, naturally, had to make a fuss about Jace's size.

But he wasn't bothered.

He'd passed training and that was all that mattered!

* * *

Hi!

Hope you liked the story so far - James and Jace are like brothers to each other and Lauren will be included into that once I get around to introducing her to Jace...before anyone asks about why he'd change his name and not honor his parents blah, blah, blah - Harry didn't know his parents, he didn't know how they died (he though it was in a car accident) by using his fathers name that was his way for keeping his parents around in his heart.

I simply couldn't have Mr Large being nice to Jace...it didn't seem right somehow...

REVIEW x

SPF xx


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five:

The last thing that Jace Harrison had expected was to be pulled out on a mission assignment nearly immediately when he had returned from Basic Training. He had been helping Kerry move some of her stuff along with James when he had been called away by a women named Zara Asker.

He had been taken up to the Mission Control rooms and had there met Dave Moss – black shirt extraordinaire! Zara explained that they needed someone to pass off as Dave's little brother, they had to be ten or eleven. The part of the mission for the younger agent only required then to be present and get to know the youngest son of a suspected money launderer.

Dave had to infiltrate the system and get to know the older son of the big boss – who was suspected of taking part in the large scale operation set up in Australia. Jace had been picked because of his physical appearance and, sad to say, previous experience with abuse. The youngest son who he'd been given the last of getting to know was suspected of being abused at home.

They had been correct on that fact and it had helped them complete the mission once Andrew Mckillon, the ten year old son, was informed of Jace's past at the hand of his relatives. Andrew had trusted Jace enough to tell him about what his father did and ever slipped up and gave him the place that the laundering was done – one large raid later and they had all the proof they needed for a firm conviction, seeing that Michael Mckillon (the big boss) had been present.

It had taken five weeks in all to get everything together – Mac had awarded Jace his Navy shirt for his work, both getting the information from Andrew and acting and thinking quickly enough to save Andrew's life. Jace had literally jumped in front of a bullet that was aimed for the civilian child, who was completely innocent and a victim in his father's games.

When he got back to campus James had been sent out on a mission of his own, so had most of the people that he had gone through basic training with. He did, finally, meet Lauren though – James's younger sister, she had been the one to inform him that James was in hospital ill.

Only the day before James returned did the others (which was over a week later) – so he hadn't ever had chance to show off his navy shirt to them, no one on campus knew about it yet because he had been waiting for his friends to return to show it off to them first.

"Jace! Look James got his navy shirt!" Bruce laughed pointing at the obvious stood a few feet away from him, Jace smiled at his training partner slightly before going back to the homework he had been doing,

"Jace?" James enquired confused, "Aren't you happy for me?"

"Sure I am James," He nodded continuing with his Spanish work – it was the other language he took on top of Greek, which he wanted to be fluent in. He didn't miss the confused look on everyone's face. "Just leave it – ok? I'm fine, I'm happy you got your shirt, and I'm happy you're alive."

"I'm off missions for a few weeks at least, so we can hang…?" James suggested pulling Jace around to face him – damnable spinney chair! "I'm sure you'll get a mission soon, there isn't any reason for them not to send you…"

"My next mission starts in three days." Jace interrupted shrugging off the hand on his shoulder, "Yes James – Next Mission. Where do you think I went for five weeks…? Huh? I WAS IN AUSTRALIA!"

"There is no way they'd send a grey-shirt on a five-week mission," Kyle argued shaking his head negatively, "Not straight out of training – True no one knew where you'd gone, people were saying you finished training to prove you could to Mr Large and then left CHERUB."

"Get out."

"What…?" James demanded in disbelief,

"GET OUT!"

Storming passed the group he went to the elevator and pressed the button for second floor – Dave's floor. True no one knew that he had been sent immediately on a mission – there was no need for them to know about it because he wasn't meant to play such a big role. Dave hadn't been happy at first when Jace got the credit but then realised that the young boy deserved it and had been bugging Jace every day since they got back to tell his friends.

Dave was in room 3 on this floor – and when Jace knocked the door was pulled open immediately by one of the older boys from this floor, there was Dave and three others in the room – two males and a female – all fourteen years old.

"Jacey!" Dave called merrily, "What can I do for you?"

"Kill the idiot's two floors above…?" He muttered pouting slightly – Dave patted the bed beside him and Jace took a seat in a huff, "James got back today."

"I know, I was with him." The girl grinned nodding her head – who was she anyway, seeing his expression she explained. "I'm Amy Collins, navy shirt! James got his navy, did you know?"

"Amy – Jace was the youngest person in the _history_ of CHERUB to receive his navy shirt." Dave explained pulling Jace into a brotherly hug – no matter how reluctant Jace was and how much he tried to pull away, he couldn't. "He was waiting to tell his friends…then James Adams comes back showing his off and getting all the congratulations. What did they say to upset you so much?"

"They didn't even know I'd been on a mission," Jace shrugged closing his eyes tiredly and yawning, sigh. "They said people told them I'd wussed out and left after proving to Mr Large that I could get through Basic Training. You should have seen their faces when I told them I had my second mission coming up,"

"What _is_ your next mission?" Dave demanded,

"Just bugging a house for MI5 down in London," Jace replied shrugging once again – there were five of them going to do it. He'd signed up when he was asked because it was always good to practice the skills, these routine missions for MI5 gave him that chance. "And apparently Mac gave the order for me to go shopping while I'm there with the money I got as compensation -."

"For what?" Amy asked tilting her head cutely,

Jace didn't answer though – falling asleep against Dave. The older boy had been there through some of his worst nightmares, Basic Training kept him exhausted enough that they stayed away but with the case hitting so close to his own past they had been brought the forefront of his mind. Stuck in a flat together for five weeks ensured that Jace had no other choice than to trust Dave.

He trusted him enough to keep him safe while he slept.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six:

No one saw Jace around campus those few days before he went on the minor mission – besides Dave, Amy and Vance (the other boy that had been in the room) along with Arif and Paul, who trained with him in the dojo when it was empty, and because he was going on a mission he had been released from lessons for the week.

Dave Moss was _not_ happy about the situation either – Jace had been so happy when he had spoken about his new friends, who had all came back and put him down and didn't have an ounce of faith in him.

The second that Jace sent out with the other agents to London he stormed over to where the newest batch of agents were eating in the cafeteria and loomed over them threateningly – with Arif, Paul, Vance and Amy at his back.

Not that he needed them there to look scary.

"What the hell did you do?!" He demanded in a harsh whisper – hey, where do you think Jace learnt it? The ten to twelve year olds shuddered and yelped as they noticed him.

"I – don't understand…" Kerry Chang stated blinking slowly,

"Jace." Amy growled from behind him,

"I spend _five weeks_ getting him out of his shell – and you spend two minutes with him and kill his self-esteem!" Jace thundered angrily, all the faces started to pale and draw understanding. "That boy was abused for _nine years_! Then agreed to go on a mission _immediately out of training_ to save another abused child from his own family!"

"He really was on a mission?" Kyle asked in disbelief,

"Yes!" the five older agents bellowed,

"Not only that," Paul stated moving forward and throwing a navy shirt onto the table – Jace's navy shirt, they could all see that by the tiny size of it. "He got _that_, the youngest agents in the _history_ of CHERUB to get a navy shirt! For throwing himself in front of a bullet, literally, for a civilian child!"

"Why didn't he saw?" James demanded,

"Because he was giving _you_ the light," Dave spat shaking his head angrily and in disappointment – were these kids so blind? "He was so excited to tell you – but then you returned with your own shirt and got all the attention, he wasn't bothered by that…it was the fact you had absolutely no faith in the agent that graduated basic training top of his class!"

"Top of the class…that impossible! Large _hated_ him!" Kerry protested,

"Didn't stop him getting the highest marks," James muttered frowning sadly and tiredly, "In all subjects…He's the one who got suspicious about the final stretch, about the bomb in the motor…Where is he?"

"Away in London for the day," Dave growled raising an eyebrow daring them to protest that statement. "He's on a mission – then he's going shopping. You will apologise to him when he returns. Don't mess up again or you'll have me to answer to,"

The older agents left he youngsters stewing over the mess that they had made of their friendship with the small boy – the friendship that could be possibly be most valuable thing a person could have in their lives.

Jace had bought several sets of clothing in his own size during this first mission but he got them in sunny Australia – not rainy England. When his aunt and uncle had been arrested for abuse their house and all money savings they had were passed over to him as 'compensation'…it was a way to redeem themselves and lower their sentences but all the same they had nothing now.

The ten year old was given a free rein on London to do some shopping – if it was his choice he would have got brand less t-shirts, jeans and trackies from Tesco's or ASDA or something. Dave had ordered two of the other agents with him to take him to the _good_ shops though.

The first shop he had been dragged into was GAP – where he topped up on everything from shirts to underwear, nightwear and jeans. Two pairs of Gap trainers, a pair of slip on plimsolls and even a pair of slippers.

He bought the two boys with him a cool t-shirt each too.

They visited the Armani shop too – he got a pair of sunglasses from there.

Their final stop? M&M world!

The two older agents spent £10 each on a large bag of M&Ms, curtsy of Jace, while Jace himself bought a t-shirt, lounge shorts, M&M pillow (in green) and a grand-total of £30 on actual sweets – including a large bag for Dave.

By the time they got back to campus via Zara Asker, who had taken them down to London, it took two trips between the three of them to take everything up to Jace's room – other agents staring at the Gap bags jealously.

Casual clothing wasn't allowed to be worn on campus but there were always trips to the nearby town and the missions themselves.

Once everything was put away Jace ran down the stairs to second floor and didn't even bother knocking on Dave's door since it was propped open – Arif and Paul were lounged around lazily on the bed and Dave was on the spinney chair at the desk.

He popped the large bag of sweets down on the desk and jumped between the older boys on the bed,

"Hey! Where's ours?" Arif demanded tickling his side,

"In…haha…in the shop still!" Jace laughed pushing the attacking hands away and grinning at their offended look, "We couldn't carry anything else! Honestly! – and I like Dave better!"

"We'll just share these ones," Paul declared reaching for the sweets on the desk but he was intercepted by Dave who stuck his tongue out at his friends, "Hey! No fair!"

Jace rolled off the bed backwards to avoid another tickle-attack before fleeing the room with roaring laughter following after him – not watching where he was going he crashed into James as he skidded into the elevator.

"Oof! Watch it – oh, Jace! There you are!" James grinned nervously, running a hand through his hair glancing to Kyle who was also there, "Look, man, I'm sorry – if I'd have known I wouldn't have…well, stolen all the limelight…"

"I've been told I'm useless, weak, a freak, my full life." Jace stated his face blank from all emotion as he stared at them. "When I came here it gave me a purpose – don't take that away from me James."

"I won't – I promise I won't," James insisted as the doors opened to their floor – both James and Kyle followed Jace into his room, "So…have fun shopping? Where have you been the last few days?"

"Dave's room,"

"He's one scary guy!" Kyle exclaimed eyeing the wardrobe – Jace waved him towards it, "Wow! You did go all out on the shopping! _All_ GAP wardrobe -?"

Jace decided to give them another chance – if they messed up again he might have to be reconsider their friendship. After basic training together, he saw James as a brother – a very annoying and irritating brother, but a brother none-the-less.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven: July 31st 2005

On his eleventh birthday, Jace Harrison was on holiday, a holiday that every agent received for a full five weeks unless they were called off on a mission – sadly Mr Large had used the excuse that it was his birthday to spring a training practice on him, James, Bruce, Kerry, Gabriella and Lisa.

What no one had been expecting was an owl to wake them up at 6am pecking Jace irritably until he got up and untied the letter attached to its leg – after everything they were trained in, _owl_ main wasn't one of them.

_**James P. Harrison,**_

_**Floor 3 – room 14,**_

_**Island of C– **_

What the hell…?

Jace rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he flipped the envelope over and stared at the old-fashioned wax seal on the thick parchment-like-paper the envelope was made of.

No one else was awake yet so he just opened it where he was,

Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry? – Surely this was some kind of joke? Magic? Real? Despite wanting to deny the fact that there was no magic in the world, something in the back of his mind niggled at things that happened that simply weren't explainable.

Like him suddenly being on the roof when he was six years old after being chanced by Dudley Dursley, his cousin, and his cousins friends who were quiet literally after his blood.

And how his hair grey back straight away when Aunt Petunia (ex-aunt!) had cut it all off except his fringe to hide his scar, it had grown back to how it was before overnight as he slept.

And how the bullet hadn't hit him when he was in its path – he had thrown himself in its path put it had missed him by millimetres, hitting the wall just above his head.

It should have hit near the heart.

Glancing at the bunk above him to James he winced as the bed squeaked as he got up – silently getting ready for the day, peaking around the corner to see that Evan and Bruce were still snoring.

Jace didn't get along with Evan.

Once he was ready he picked up the odd letter and headed down to the floor-level – the staff the stayed here during the summer had a room each on this floor, so they could keep an eye on who came in and out. Someone was always on the front desk too.

Today was Ewart Asker.

Ewart was married to Zara.

"Erm, Ewart…?"

"Up early again, James?" Ewart asked keeping his eyes on his book – Jace raised an eyebrow while rolling his eyes, this man refused to use his nickname. "Out for your morning run? Why don't you do your friend a favour and take him too?"

"Actually – I just got this letter…" Jace stated putting it on the counter between them, that caught the Mission controllers attention – all mail went through campus first and then the adults here, "Weird isn't it?"

Ewart picked up the letter and sat up slowly – picking at it as though seeing a massive pile of gold and diamonds at the same time.

Without taking his eyes off of Jace, the mission controller picked up the phone and typed in well-memorised numbers that Jace knew were a direct to Doctor McAfferty on campus base in England.

"Mac, we've got a HWW letter here." Ewart stated – humming when Mac clearly said something in reply to the statement. "Hmm, James Harrison…Yes, but…well, he's due out on a training assignment…ok, I'll let Large know…"

"What's up?" Jace asked at the grimace on the man's face,

"You need to return to campus immediately." Ewart stated getting up finally and moving around the desk – ushering Jace towards the stairs, "Go pack, don't stop and talk to anyone – you're straight out of here before I have to tell Large you get a pass on training."

"He'll kill me when he gets hold of me." Jace agreed,

The trip back to campus took five hours instead of the usual seven because they went in the helicopter with no stop-offs, he hadn't even got to say bye to his friends because they had been still asleep when he had got back to the room.

He'd left them a note just saying that he'd been called back to campus.

The second he got back to campus he was pulled across the grounds into Mac's office where a man was waiting for them to return – he was tall, slim but muscled, around 40 years old with shoulder length brown hair and startling silver eyes.

"Thaddeus, this is Jace." Mac introduced as they sat in the chairs next to the fire, Jace taking the stool next to Mac, "He today turned eleven and has just received a letter to attend Hogwarts."

"Yes, I've heard of Jace," Thaddeus nodded thoughtfully then winked at the eleven year old agent, "Norman is constantly complaining about him – I am guessing you need me to tutor him…?"

"Actually, I think we need to explain first." Mac sighed looking at Jace who didn't have a clue what they were referring too – was the letter right? Was he really magic? "Jace – I suspected this when you first arrived, from the history record we pulled. As you know we were unable to retrieve any information concerning your birth or your parents."

"Yes,"

"Parents names…?" Thaddeus enquired curiously,

"That's up to Jace." Mac deferred,

"If my aunt wasn't lying then their names were James and Lily Potter." Jace whispered unsure of all of this – he didn't like thinking of his past or talking about it. "Did you know them…?"

"You're Harry Potter." Thaddeus whispered moving forward suddenly and moving Jace's fringe to the side then tilting his head curiously, "Ah, we all assumed the scar would be there forever -."

"Some scars fade over time," Jace gritted out,

"Too true," Mac nodded,

"No, it's just hidden behind a glamour." The man grinned shaking his head and pulling away from Jace who almost sighed a breath of relief, "Strong accidental magic – most likely. We'll leave that in place for now."

"Jace – you need to decide," Mac stated leaning forward himself now and looking at him seriously, "You can stay where at CHERUB and Thaddeus an tutor you as he does with Alex and Justin…or you can leave us, attend this school at our expense, and we'll put you up with a good foster family during the holidays."

"I don't want to leave." Jace huffed as if it was the most obvious think in the world, at their looks he explained. "I have friends here, James is like a brother to me, and this is the only place I've ever felt safe since…well, the first place I can remember feeling like a home."

"Then you may stay!" Mac said patting his shoulder comfortingly – glancing at Thaddeus who nodded positively, "But Thaddeus tends to do things differently that the traditional magic schooling that you would receive if you attended Hogwarts, know that now."

"Traditionally by the British standard." Thaddeus corrected,

"Since when did I ever do anything _traditionally_?" Jace challenged,


	8. Authors Note:

Hi people :)

So I'm glad people have been reading so far and I can't believe I've done seven chapters already! (I only really started three days ago!) and now I'm doing Chapter 8.

actually that chapter is finished but I'm not too happy with it at the moment - not for chapter 8 anyway! It's set four years after he finds out being a wizard, so going to set that one back a bit I think, for now:

Who should James be with?

Kerry

Ginny

Hermione

Luna

other...?

Who should Lauren be with...?

(I don't really like her with Rat)

Who should Bruce be with...?

This story is Kyle/Jace as I've stated before - but any ideas how to get them together?

Just for clarification Kyle is a Squilb, he was kicked out of his family as a child but i'll explain that later.

Thaddeus Nott is the Uncle of Theo Nott (Slytherin student in Harry's year at Hogwarts)

Thanks!

SPF


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